AAC Inaugural Meeting Table TalkApril 27, 2016

AAC Membership

  1. Goals/Hopes/Outcomes
  2. Help make advising a priority on campus
  3. Use AAC to influence
  4. Strong need to simplify curriculum. All advisors at table, including 2 faculty members feel that complexity of US and requirements and tools available at present time take away from the opportunity to have meaningful conversations about career, personal and professional issues. Too much and energy is spent navigating and trying to articulate requirements.
  5. Need for more accessible and/or personal notes from other advisors relating to a student. Currently there are none, or just bare bones notes to do with scheduling. Would be nice to have more background information when a student is transitioned to a new advisor. Having this electronic is requested. (not paper files)
  6. Consistent information across campus will help students
  7. Consistency amongst departments
  8. Common advising processes throughout campus, shared resources, stronger voice campus wide for advising needs.
  9. A uniform set of expectations of advisors. For example, UC has expectations, but it is unclear what student support is available after the students leave. Some departments and colleges/schools offer comprehensive advising, others do not
  10. Offer training to best prepare our campus advisors to help students both academically and outside of school.
  11. To provide professional development opportunities for Academic Advisors
  12. To provide professional developing, networking and best practices of advising and student support to advisors on campus
  13. To promote best practices for Academic Advisors
  14. Best practices and getting to know each other across campus would be great. Making those connections will help our students in the long run.
  15. To connect advisors to one another on the campus and define what advising means for all. This way we can have similar practices when students leave us and move on to other departments. It will also give us a great think tank to problem solve.
  16. Communication
  17. Ability to share information and ideas so we can all be better!
  18. Communication, consistent, updated/accurate information, technology, professional development, representation from each advising unit, relationships with student, manageable caseloads, resources
  19. Common learning objectives, consistent policies and mission, top-down buy-in from key players (department chairs); common mission statement for all academic advising on campus
  20. Central information center for advising and communications (catalog, department, curriculum, Registrar) not Swoop
  21. Communication between departments about how to network and help each other
  22. better communication between advisors (changes in policy)
  23. Who’s Next type system – unified appointment and note system; Starfish; Consistency in record keeping – paper vs. electronic
  24. Know who advisors are
  25. Know who the liaisons are (UC)
  26. To promote a positive environment amongfaculty and staff in order to support and

empower students with their academics and educational goals.

  1. More connections with athletics (so advisors understand their needs and who is an athlete – notes)
  2. I would like to learn more about what is happening in the world of higher ed as it relates to advising as well as meet fellow advisors/academic support staff across campus
  3. More interaction with faculty and professional advisors
  4. Include graduate advisors in AAC
  5. Hold fundraiser(s) to support student needs such as textbooks or professional schools’ test fees (NCEL, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, etc.)
  6. AAC to offer a grant for AAC members to apply to go to a conference or something
  7. Conference grants?
  8. Appointment requirements
  9. Manageable case loads
  10. Staffing/staff
  11. Solidify/identify liaisons w/UC advisor and Major advisor
  12. UNI classes – require 201 for transfers – offer more seats
  1. Meetings
  2. Every other month
  3. Recommend AAC meet once a month over lunch and on alternate days of the week to generate faculty participation. At the first meeting (August?), hit the ground running with a slate of officers and a calendar of events.
  4. Lunch/mid-day – can bring our own lunch if one is not provided
  5. End of the day is bad as is 8am – too early and people are not functioning yet, and too late and they are burnt out
  6. Meeting Agenda Ideas
  1. Each meeting have updates that all advisors need to know (changes, updates etc.)
  2. Financial aid updates if applicable or other offices (relevant info)
  3. Have members introduce conference papers or presentations to get feedback from group
  4. Highlight conferences such as NACADA events (have a recent attendant give a summary of topics and ideas they learned)
  5. Guests from other campuses to share ideas (what they are doing)
  6. Discuss a journal article (assign it as a pre-reading)
  7. Hot topics or issues- get group opinions for individual unit decision making as needed
  1. What are some ways AAC can recognize exceptional advising on campus?
  2. Same as faculty – advisor recognition based on criteria, receive a medallion
  3. End of year banquet
  4. Create some kind of recognition among faculty advisors, e.g. Advisor of the Year, across the university. Could also recognize years of service and make reference to this during convocation.
  5. Acknowledge the research, scholarship, and presentations and being undertaken by advisors and faculty – celebrate their efforts
  6. Free parking for a year
  1. Have faculty member update any faculty senate items that are related to advising each meeting*

AAC Website Ideas:

  1. Minutes of meetings
  2. Announcements
  3. Post academic changes and send email
  4. Relevant reports
  5. Advising questionnaire data reported at graduation
  6. Fostering Undergraduate Student Success Report
  7. GPA calculator
  8. Transfer equivalency link
  9. Sub and waiver forms
  10. Important dates (scrolling calendar)
  11. Appointment links
  12. Who to contact page
  13. Know who advisors are
  14. Pic and bio on website to explain what we do
  15. Advisor spotlight on website (specialty area, interest, reach out)
  16. Know who the liaisons are (UC)
  17. Who’s the go-to person for advising regarding academic policy?
  18. Use AAC website as communication tool, similar to Registrar Newsletter, resource requests
  19. Advising calendar of events w/descriptions
  20. Resource sharing – figure out a way a faculty advisors tap into resources in each major
  21. Model as “Who do you contact for” using majors
  22. Electronic Forms or “Hot Sheet” (used by UC)
  23. Each major: what courses would you recommend for major
  24. WI and IL in major
  25. Advising forms during meetings emailed w/notes, courses after
  26. Transfer resources: course descriptions system that Registrar??

AAC Board/Executive Committee

  1. Student group to work with us to be a sounding board when we develop new initiatives or fine tune what we currently have (aka provide the student voice)
  2. Explore the possibility of having a faculty representative from the different UNCW colleges/school serve on the AAC board for a year on a rotating basis.
  3. Faculty Representative on Executive Committee should have this responsibility to attend and report on faculty senate happenings relating to advising at each AAC meeting.

Advising Ideas

  1. Clarify/manage student expectations – what they’re responsible for
  2. Re-deciding students – mirror the consultation process being used by University College that refers students to career services/career counselor
  3. Explore appreciative advising approach as developed by Jenny Bloom, formerly of Univ of SC, now at Florida Atlantic University. This theoretical framework consists of six stages: Disarm, discover, dream, design, deliver, don’t settle.
  4. Employ StrengthsBased approach in advising efforts
  5. Universal note-taking system so when students transition, the next advisors know the student story (is it possible for who’s next and grades first to link?)
  6. When academic changes happen – prefer to have an email and a notification on the website
  7. Addresses all needs of students (career and post grad)
  8. Holistic and student centered
  9. Focus advising efforts on critical transitions and working with special populations
  10. Prepare to advise growing number of international students and to meet their various needs.
  11. Ea. Student thru Jr. Yr. – assigned professional advisor
  12. Consistency w/notes and appointment
  13. Seamless handoff: unified process for notifying students of their advisor
  14. Communication gap/structure not in place b/w U. C. – majors/programs
  15. Shared notetaking platform: “Who’s Next”
  16. Includes Registrar, faculty, etc.
  1. Better hand-off of students from UC to advisor to faculty and between programs
  2. Affects retention
  3. Transition to other majors – communication lacking
  4. Disconnect between department from which they are leaving into new department (Registrar)
  5. Include all advisors in other project areas and connect to University
  6. More knowledge of University Studies (foreign language)
  7. Unique majors need to know at least a baseline of information on other majors
  8. Every (mg. ?) needs a “point person” who knows their major to advocate for what is needed
  9. Standing hour during week day that a student can come ask questions.
  10. High school student interested in programs
  11. HS student 0 UC – Admin – department
  12. Prospective major’s seminar
  13. UC early contact w/assigned advises
  14. Meta-major advising team including Registrar, Fin Aid, Adv., fac/staff

Assessment

  1. Assessment of advising model (some students see 3 advisors in 4 years)
  2. Complete an exit survey with students who are transitioning from University College to their major to determine if they know how to pull up and read their degree audit and how to prepare for advising sessions with faculty advisors.
  3. Assessment was also mentioned as we need more evidence as what constitutes solid/good advisement.
  4. “Can’t change the process before you understand it”
  5. What is U.C.’s process? Procedures? Resources?
  6. CHHS? Other colleges? Faculty
  7. Start having conversations

Faculty Advisors

  1. Important to have faculty would they prefer to be mentors rather than advisors
  2. Inform faculty who don’t do advising about the importance of advising (at faculty senate or deans meeting to give us a voice/answer questions/add clarity)
  3. Have University College and Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) work more with faculty advisors
  4. Re-visit/revise faculty handbook to emphasize teaching and student advisement
  5. Define ways to involve faculty advisors in this Council
  6. Faculty Representative on Executive Committee should have this responsibility to attend and report on faculty senate happenings relating to advising at each AAC meeting.
  7. initiatives for faculty to learn and attend
  8. Better training for faculty advisors

Professional Development

  1. In which types of professional development opportunities do you feel most likely to engage?
  2. In terms of professional development, would like to learn more about counseling and how to help students who are having anxiety issues
  3. Who’s Next software – how do we do student advising sessions? Need consistency in documentation. Best practice may be to collect information in an online resource.
  4. Advisors could use more Degree Works training
  5. Partnering with CTW for training/opportunities to develop skill set
  6. Develop more expertise in working with students transitioning in from Early College programs
  7. Write, present, mentoring, research
  8. Emphasize areas that help us develop skills for connecting with students
  9. Collaborations and conferences with other institutions
  10. Webinars
  11. Conference debriefs
  1. What do you feel is needed to provide students with the best advising experience and how can the AAC lead us creating that experience?
  2. Professional development in the way of workshops (Drive In/One Day) in which we can hammer out best practices and learn skill sets of how to handle student’s needs.
  3. Workshops by the Registrar’s Office and Admissions would be helpful in order to know and understand policy changes better (i.e. suspension policy). We need better channels and more consistent ways of communicating this to all Advisors, professional and faculty Advisors.
  4. Develop basic training tools for faculty advisors as well as a handy FAQ resource
  5. Make NACADA webinars open to AAC members and greater UNCW community
  6. Make available advising resources such as NACADA webinars, guest speakers
  7. Professional development needed for academic administration and an awareness developed for the importance of advising, e.g. count for credit in workload.
  8. Speakers (leadership, inclusion, mental wellness, crisis situations, non-trads, distance ed)
  9. How often and when would you prefer to engage in professional development opportunities provided by the AAC?
  10. Once a quarter
  11. Regularly scheduled programming – UC in conjunction w/ professional advisors
  12. Relevant and pertinent first meetings for AAC; dynamic that would reach advisors across campus (NACADA)
  13. Summer Institutes where we could include and batch like topics together
  14. Once a semester for larger events, several small workshops throughout semester
  1. What are some advising best practices you would like to learn more about?
  1. Technology
  2. Technology, leveraging social media, strengths-based education, transfer& military student experience, non-traditional student special populations committee within AAC
  3. Technology and training for advisors and faculty, early alert system
  4. Types of advising
  5. Interest in sharing best practices across colleges, schools and departments
  6. Understanding student strengths and weakness and being able to challenge and support students
  7. Education about what options are available for students (careers)
  8. How to appropriately follow up with students (especially if advisors only see them once a semester)
  9. Invite different departments/various components of the U> S. come in and speak about their process and reasoning behind why some

Networking

  1. What are some opportunities for networking with other professionals and faculty advisors you would like to see?
  2. Social events
  3. Knowledge communities
  4. Happy hours, socials, conferences
  5. Buddy system/mentoring
  6. Invite representatives from area feeder schools to UNCW – host an advising open house day
  7. Office intro’s/open house/coffee hour
  8. Social/Team building
  9. Laser Tag
  10. How can the AAC provide an avenue for building relationships across campus, specifically with non-advising partners?
  11. Once a month invite someone from campus partners
  12. Learn more about departments’ and university outreach efforts, especially in regard to transfer students and managing their expectations about hours/courses needed
  13. Work with Admissions/Transfer Admissions to make sure we’re sending a consistent message
  14. Get Paul Townend, Dean of Undergraduate Studies, involved in AAC
  15. Work with admissions, especially in regard to military or those with lots of credits, to help them manage students’ expectations in regard to graduation timelines.
  16. Bring in if training is relevant (financial aid)
  17. Lunch series with speakers
  18. Do more luncheons where we meet and brainstorm just like today! At the meetings, have assigned seating to that we have to sit with others from all over the university and all departments.
  19. Highlight different programs- have a representative present to the group (such as social work)
  20. Highlight Campus Resources (Counseling Center, Learning Center)
  21. Training (esp for faculty) how to handle students that come in crying….it is a gray area, they don’t want to be counselors are not trained to be, but not sure where to start. How to handle that. Also how to handle student who is failing? Training for distressed students.
  22. Best practices-major specific
  23. Information about current student population (data) such as trends, demographics, % transfer, working, mental health issues, likes, dislikes
  24. Networking events should include getting together more with faculty

This document includes response made to the original survey sent out in September 2015.

Original list of questions from Inaugural Meeting

AAC Table Topics

Advising

  • What do you feel is needed to provide students with the best advising experience and how can the AAC lead us in creating that experience?
  • What would a comprehensive advising model look like to you?
  • What advising resources do you feel would support you in doing your best work?
  • What are some advising best practices currently in place at UNCW? What are some you think UNCW may benefit from incorporating?

Professional Development

  • In which types of professional development opportunities do you feel most likely to engage?
  • Which on and off campus partners would you be interested in hearing present?
  • Which topics of professional development interest you?
  • What are some advising best practices you would like to learn more about?
  • How often and when would you prefer to engage in professional development opportunities provided by the AAC?

Networking

  • What are some opportunities for networking with other professional and faculty advisors you would like to see?
  • How can the AAC provide an avenue for building relationships across campus, specifically with non-advising partners?

AAC

  • In which ways would you prefer the AAC communicate updates and changes?

Response to Inaugural Meeting Invitation Survey

What do you hope the AAC be able to provide for you and the campus?

  • Best practices in academic advising
  • I think it would be great to come together as a profession to discuss issues/successes/tips for advising
  • I hope to share best practices, network and send a consistent message one campus to students
  • Best practices
  • I hope that as part of the AAC, I can work with a team of individuals passionate about advising and hopefully share best practices and bridge any communication gaps that will help us to serve our students better
  • new resources and trainings
  • professional development opportunities, guidance for advisors, peer group with common dedication to advising and student success, best practices
  • Clarity of advising role and best practice strategies
  • 1. In time, a centralized advising "center" or "resource" to assist advisors with academic advising questions....and to assist students with questions as well - if their advisor cannot answer.2. An advocate for the fact that "Advising Matters" as I believe it gets lip service in many respects. And perhaps recognition for quality advising...or at least that quality advising is important.3. A resource to help advisors and students who have to prep a) university studies petitions; b) study abroad course equivalencies that are outside my department. ESSENTIALLY, we need something like University College (smaller scale) to help faculty advisors. OSS in CHHS is relatively "new" and most faculty advisors know more than they do (through no fault of their own).
  • guidance and professional development opportunities
  • I am interested in advising as it informs students of major areas of study, and as such, helps students find their "best fit" for study and careers
  • accurate information
  • Better customer service
  • Help to keep me updated on all changes since there are so many to keep up with
  • Become aware of advising information provided to students before selecting a major
  • Advising support and up to date information to aid in advising students
  • I hope to learn more about advising our students related to their educational requirements particularly University Studies, and services on campus for them
  • Bring together all advising resources across campus to bridge transitions for students and ensure that our students are served in the best way possible
  • Open communication
  • I'm hoping this will facilitate more frequent communication between faculty advisors and UC
  • Fostering connections
  • Cohesive advising
  • Direction and uniformity for the professional advising role/position across the entire campus
  • To collaborate with other advisors on campus to provide a better advising experience for UNCW students
  • Cross campus collaboration and communication between advising teams
  • A coordinated collaboration between colleagues with similar missions and goals. Professional development, sharing of information and procedures while getting to know one another personally
  • I look forward to getting the campus community on the same page as far as advising goes. The opportunity for professional development would be nice as well
  • Professional development, a voice on campus
  • Professional development and job specific learning opportunities, networking and cross-campus connections, opportunities to share relevant info across units in an effort to better serve UNCW students
  • Voice at the decision table
  • Networking
  • Networking opportunities for campus professionals and advisors
  • Relationship building throughout the campus
  • Further opportunities to meet other advisors and learn from them
  • A networking opportunity to get to know advisors across campus, an avenue to discuss best practices and to solicit ideas. A central place for campus and off campus stakeholders to present relevant information. Professional Development opportunities to better serve our students
  • Networking connections and professional development opportunities
  • A safe space to discuss ideas about how to continuously improve academic advising across the institution.
  • A support organization for advising services, new ideas for advising, raising the level of advising across campus, think tank...
  • An input into how the IT folks can make some of the records more accessible and less prone to frequent system changes. For example: WebNow is very difficult to access due to JAVA versions
  • A comprehensive academic advising model

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